David E. Anderson, 44, of Lafayette Trail, was arrested by Newtown police last month after his estranged wife found hundreds of images on his computer, including pictures of children as young as 3 years old being sexually abused, authorities said.

Some of the photographs of young women who were either naked or partially clothed, were taken surreptitiously in the bathroom of the family cottage in Salisbury, Mass., police said.

That led local detectives to contact Salisbury authorities, who said they conducted a search on the cottage on Nov. 14 -- the same day Anderson was being arraigned in Danbury Superior Court on possession of child pornography charges.

Salisbury Police Chief Tom Fowler said the search yielded "hundreds, if not thousands" of images on two hard drives, including video of women secretly recorded as part of a scheme in which Anderson portrayed himself as a doctor conducting research.

"He would lure people under the impression that he was doing some medical research and that he needed to do an internal baseline exam," Fowler said.

Fowler said Anderson would advertise the fake research project through Craigslist and through flyers, offering up to $50 for each participant.

Based on questionnaires Anderson had some of the women fill out, Fowler said, victims come from states including Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, New York and as far away as Washington state.

"It's the most bizarre case I've seen in my 26 years," Fowler said.

Anderson was arraigned Monday in Newburyport District Court in Massachusetts, where he pleaded not guilty to several charges, including possession of child pornography and four counts of unlawfully recording a nude or partially nude person. He was held in lieu of $500,000 bond.

Fowler said police know of at least 20 victims, and there might be more.

"If anyone believe they may have been a victim in this case, we urge them to contact the authorities," he said.